My Friend, Kenobi
by Charlotte K
Summary: It's one thing having an affair with a Jedi. Falling in love with him? That's something Padme can't help but think about.
1. Rain

The torrential rain falls from the sky, the fat drops leaving huge spots on the large window pane. Padmé Amidala sits and watches the storm, and presses her fingertips against the glass. The Coruscant skyline is impossible to see with these heavy black clouds hanging around. She was supposed to be at the senate for a meeting between a few senators and the Jedi Council, but the meeting had been cancelled because of the weather. So she sits, watching the rain, wishing that the clouds would just shrivel up and float away, wishing that the sheets of rain would stop falling. She was supposed to see Anakin today. Anakin and Obi-Wan. She sighs. After seeing Anakin for the first time in ten years, she had to admit that he had changed a lot. He was cute when they first met on Tatooine, but now, he's a different kind of cute. A kind of cute that makes Padmé's heart flutter a bit in her chest. But that's the extent of her feelings for the young man.

There's something about Anakin that she can't help but feel a little jealous of. It's not his ability to use the Force- Padmé accepted long ago that she could never have that power. It's something different. Something she doesn't quite understand yet. Every time she sees Anakin with Obi-Wan Kenobi, his master, a feeling stirs inside her chest. A feeling that tells her that Anakin has something that she doesn't. Or someone. Padmé twirls her curly hair around her finger. Perhaps she wishes she had someone to call a best friend, too. When she was queen of Naboo, her handmaiden, Cordé, was her best friend. Padmé told Cordé everything. The memory of Cordé's final moments still sends a crack through Padmé's heart. Padmé has never been able to call someone a "best" friend since. She probably never will. Anakin, though, has someone to talk to about anything. Someone who shares his powers, and can teach him more about them. Anakin is fortunate.

_I wish Cordé could still be here_. A tear rolls down Padmé's face at the thought of her friend. She felt horrible about Cordé's death. Cordé was being Padmé's decoy, just to protect her. She had died in somebody's foiled attempt at assassinating Padmé. Padmé closes her eyes. Sometimes, she can't help but feel that her friend's death was her fault. "Oh, Cordé," She whispers, her voice wavering, almost cracking. "I'm so, so sorry." A teardrop falls on her purple velvet dress, which she realizes she still has to change out of, since she couldn't go to the meeting. She wipes it away with her thumb, and takes a deep breath.

She hears the door to her apartment open, and footsteps come near the sitting room. Quickly, Padmé wipes her tears away and sniffles. "Hello?" she calls, trying her hardest to sound like she was never crying.

"Hello, my lady." Padmé turns around to see Obi-Wan Kenobi's smiling face. She tries to smile back.

"Obi-Wan!" She walks over to him and helps him out of his Jedi cloak. "What were you doing out in this storm?"

"I didn't get word that the meeting was cancelled until it was too late. When the storm started getting worse, I thought I had better wait it out somewhere safe." He grins. "And you were my closest option." Padmé smiles slowly, but looks down from Obi-Wan's eyes. Obi-Wan's grin fades. "What's the matter, Padmé?" He places a hand on her shoulder. "I sense something is very wrong."

"No, not really," Padmé replies, tears threatening again. "Just some painful memories. That's all." Obi-Wan rubs Padmé's shoulder sympathetically.

"Would you want to talk about it?"

"Um, yeah. Sure." She leads Obi-Wan to the couch, and they sit down. Obi-Wan rests his arm along the back of the couch, almost as if he's about to put his arm around Padmé's shoulder.

"So tell me, my dear. What's bothering you?"

Tears begin to run down Padmé's face as she tells the Jedi beside her about Cordé, and the assasination.

"I still feel like it's my fault," she says through tears. "I wish I never let that happen to her!" Padmé buries her face in her hands. Obi-Wan takes Padmé's hand and holds it gently in his. He lifts her chin with his finger, until their eyes meet.

"It wasn't your fault." He wipes a tear from Padmé's face. "That was not in your control. Nobody knew that was going to happen." Padmé nods slowly. "What Cordé showed then was loyalty. The most sincere kind of loyalty imaginable. Instead of feeling regret, you should be feeling honoured and fortunate that you had a friend like her. Oh Padmé, there is no need to cry." Obi-Wan wraps his arms around the little woman. Slowly, she puts her arms around him too.

"You're right," she replies. "But it still hurts to remember something like that." Obi-Wan nods, and leans his head against hers.

"I lost a best friend myself," he says. "Long ago. You were a young girl. Do you remember Qui-Gon Jinn?" He lifts his head and looks into Padmé's face.

"Yes, I do. He was with us on Tatooine, and on Naboo. Of course I remember."

"Yes. He was my master. Everything that I know about being a Jedi, I learned from him. He was like my own brother. We had a special bond that could never be broken. We were inseperable. I felt the same way you did when I lost him."

"Did you ever feel that you could never feel the same way about another friend again?" Obi-Wan takes a deep breath in, and rubs Padmé's arm.

"I did, for a short while. When the responsibility of training and raising Anakin was passed on to me, I began to realize after a while that I could feel such a bond that I felt before, once again. With Anakin. He is my best friend now." He leans in close to Padmé, and for a moment, Padmé thinks he looks like he's about to kiss her. "And Padmé," he whispers, his warm breath tickling her skin. "You are, as well." He places his head back on hers.

Moments pass by in silence. Padmé and Obi-Wan watch the rain fall apon the city, and listen to the thunder, until it very slowly fades as the black clouds lighten and roll further and further away. The rain isn't hitting the window so hard now, and eventually the storm looks as though it will pass. But Padmé doesn't want to leave Obi-Wan's arms. All she knows now is that when he's around, she no longer feels alone.


	2. A Beautiful Woman

Opening her eyes slowly, Padmé lifts her head and gasps to see Obi-Wan settled in next to her. _How long has he been here for?_ Gently, she unwraps his arms from around her waist and stands up. The storm looks like it had passed long before Padmé's awakening. She looks back at the Jedi sleeping peacefully on the couch. She has to admit: he is handsome. She decides to let him sleep a little longer, and then she'll think about waking him up. But something tells her that she doesn't want to send him on his way home just yet. Well, maybe she should wake him up now. Maybe he has to go be with Anakin. She sighs. _Anakin._

She sits down on the couch beside Obi-Wan. "Obi-Wan," she says gently, lightly shaking his arm. "Hey, wake up!" The Jedi moans, stretches his legs out, and opens his eyes.

"Hello, my dear." He looks Padmé up and down quickly. He reaches out and rubs a soft piece of the skirt of her dress between his thumb and finger. "This is a beautiful dress," he notes. "A beautiful dress on a beautiful woman." Padmé smiles, flattered.

"Thank you," she says shyly. Sure, she's been called beautiful before. Many times. But hearing it from him makes her feel even more special. _He really is a sweet man_. "I was going to wear it to the meeting, but I guess I don't need to worry about that anymore!" Obi-Wan grins.

"Oh well," he says. "It's not like you put it on any nobody saw you in it." He puts a hand on her leg, then lifts it off almost as soon as it touches. A shiver runs up Padmé's spine. _What was that supposed to mean?_ She reaches up and starts to unpin her half-up hair. Obi-Wan watches as dark, rich curls spill out through her fingers and bounce down around her face. He watches her fingers, as they work quickly to unravel tiny braids that weave through her curls like long, thin snakes. Padmé blinks her dark brown eyes, and soon, the rest of her hair cascades over her shoulders, like a waterfall running down Alderaani mountains. She stands up, and gathers up her long skirt, making sure none of it is stuck in between the couch cushions. She couldn't make herself look silly in front of Obi-Wan. She looks down at him to find him gazing at her, and she can't help but let the corners of her mouth turn up just a little bit.

"I'm just going to go change out of this dress," she says softly. "You can get something from the kitchen if you're hungry."

"No, thank you. I'm not..." Obi-Wan's voice trails off, and Padmé notices that he's still staring at her intently. He finishes his sentence. "I'm not hungry." Padmé nods, then turns away to head for her bedroom. Obi-Wan can't help but watch her retreating figure, and watches as she moves her hips with each step. The length of her dress and its corseted top show off the young woman's figure well, and it hugs her curves in all the right places. Padmé can feel his eyes on her, but she thinks she'd best leave that feeling alone. _Why is he watching me?_ Inside, she doesn't honestly mind that an attractive man like him finds her beautiful. His voice saying, "a beautiful dress on a beautiful woman" plays over and over again inside her head. There was something about the way he said it. It sounded like a casual compliment, but a feeling inside makes her believe that there was another emotion behind the words. _He could like me. I think he's pretty wonderful himself._ The door to her bedroom slides open, and she steps onto the soft, carpeted floor. The door slides shut with a click, and She pulls on a long, thin ribbon hanging from the back of her dress. The little bow comes untied, and the corset loosens up. She can't pull the ribbon completely out, though. That would mean she'd have to spend a long time retying the dress herself. Once the dress is loose enough, she lets it fall from her body, landing on the floor in a heap at her feet.

She looks up at her mirror. She turns one way, and then the other. She thinks she can see why Obi-Wan thinks she's beautiful. She used to hate admitting this in fear of sounding vain, but she thinks she's beautiful, too. She looks into the eyes of her reflection. She likes those. And her lips. Maybe, she thinks, she's learned to appreciate her face more now, because she no longer has to hide it away behind layers and layers of white face paint. She loved being Queen, but all the makeup is the one thing that she will never miss. Her long hair falls past her breasts. It took a long time for it to grow that long. Women on Naboo never usually cut their hair, and eventually, she had taught herself how to do all the traditional styles her mother used to wear. Padmé also liked what were hidden under her hair, too. She had bloomed earlier than most other girls her age, and she had come to accept her new body soon after. She liked them, mostly because they fit perfectly in all of her dresses, not spilling out, and not causing her clothes to fall down because they fit too loosely. She decided that they were the perfect size for her, and she never gave them much more thought than that.

She steps out of her dress, picks it up, and sets it neatly on her bed. She'll hang it up later. She pulls open her chest of drawers, in search of something comfortable to wear around her home. She loves going through her drawers more than she loves looking through her closet. Her "home" clothes are in the drawers. These are the clothes that she could never wear out in public, though she wishes she could. But a senator and former queen is expected to dress nicely everywhere she goes. She was told once that only "common" women wore their comfort clothes out and about, because they could never afford more ornate and elaborate dresses to wear. She would be frowned apon if she didn't wear in public what she only likes wearing at the Senate. She sighs, but enjoys the feeling of the soft fabrics beneath her fingertips. That's another thing she loves about her "home" clothes. They're woven and stitched from natural fabrics like Alderaani silk, or her favourite, Corellian wool. She pulls a long, grass green Corellian wool dress out of the drawer, and then pushes the heavy drawer closed. This is her favourite dress. It's soft, it hangs on her body without being too large, while hugging her hips without being too tight, and it has a large hood. It's such a plain dress, no patterns or detailed embroidery on it anywhere, but it's how simple the dress is that makes it her favourite. She wonders what Obi-Wan will think of this dress.

She steps quietly out of her room. The sound of her door closing behind her causes Obi-Wan to turn from his gaze out the window. He opens his mouth like he's about to say something, but closes it slowly as he takes Padmé in with his eyes. He takes a step over to her.

"My lady," he says, gently feeling the wool with his fingers. "Even in your regular clothes, you are still as stunning as ever." Padmé says nothing, not sure how to react, but she's happy all the same. Obi-Wan looks the dress up and down. "Wow," he whispers. He looks back up at Padmé, and their eyes lock, neither of them breaking their gaze for a few moments. Padmé feels beautiful all over again, a warm and fuzzy sort of feeling starting to spread inside. Out of the corner of her eyes, she can see his hands slowly inching closer and closer to hers, but then he stops. He gives her a warm smile.

"I must get going," he says. "I came here to wait out the storm, and of course visit you, and I'm afraid I might overstay if I keep on standing here." He takes a step back, and heads for the coathook near the door to pick up his cloak. Padmé follows him to the door.

"Don't worry about overstaying," she says. "I'm very happy you stopped by. You can come here tomorrow too, if you'd like. I'm not busy for once."

"You know," Obi-Wan says. "I might just do that." Padmé catches him by his arm gently as he turns away.

"Thank you," she says. "For coming. And listening. And staying with me. I- I guess, thank you for everything."

"For you, my dear, I would do that any time." Before he heads outside, he says over his shoulder, "I hate to see a beautiful queen like you cry."

Padmé finds herself standing at the door, long after it slid shut.


	3. I Have to Admit

It's raining all over again today. But instead of crying at her window like yesterday, Padmé is in her kitchen, learning from Obi-Wan how to prepare a fruit salad Qui-Gon Jinn used to like making, laughing and giggling happily with her friend.

"No, no! You've added too many Hoth berries!" Obi-Wan says, laughing. He tickles Padmé lightly in the ribs. Padmé is laughing, too.

"Obi-Wan, why are they called Hoth berries?" Obi-Wan strokes his beard, pretending to be in deep thought.

"Hoth berries, they are called," he replies, trying to imitate the voice of Master Yoda. "because when you bite into one of them, very cold in your mouth, they become!" Padmé cracks up at Obi-Wan's impression of Yoda. "It's true," he says in his normal voice. "There's something in the berries that makes your mouth cold. Kind of like when you eat a mint candy."

"That's really interesting!" Padmé remarks. She never actually knew that before. "Do Hoth berries come from Hoth, or can anything even grow there?"

"Um, I don't think very much can grow there, but I do know that Hoth berries originally come from Bothawui." He scoops some of the excess Hoth berries out of the bowl of cut up fruit and salad leaves. He tosses one up in the air, and catches it in his mouth. Padmé raises an eyebrow, impressed. _He knows a lot more about cooking than I thought_! Obi-Wan holds Padmé's hand open, and drops a few Hoth berries into her palm. Padmé's skin tingles with the warm softness of Obi-Wan's hand. "You try."

"Alright,"Padmé throws one of the berries up in the air, opens her mouth, and catches it. "I actually did it!" she says excitedly. "Okay, I have an idea." She holds a berry between her fingers, and turns to face Obi-Wan. "You try to catch one!" Obi-Wan smiles.

"Alright, alright."

"Open your mouth." He does what he's told. Padmé aims and tosses the berry, but instead of landing in his mouth, it hits Obi-Wan in the forehead. She puts a hand on her mouth, trying to hide her laughter.

"Not quite my mouth, dear," he comments. "Try again." Padmé tries again, this time hitting him on the end of his nose. "Closer than last time, that's for sure!" Padmé throws one more time. The little blue Hoth berry sails through the air, and lands somewhere in the Jedi's beard. He closes his mouth, and feels around it. "Where did it go?"

"It's in your beard somewhere!" Padmé says, her face about to split from smiling so hard. Obi-Wan brushes his hand across his face, and the berry falls to the floor.

"Darn, I could have saved that for later!" he jokes. Padmé sticks her tongue out, pretending to be grossed out.

"You're funny, you know that?" She says. Obi-Wan gives a pleasant smile.

"Thank you, Padmé," he replies. "Nobody has ever said that to me before. I'm glad I make you smile." He gently brushes his hand against hers. _You'll always make me smile_, she wants to tell him.

Padmé and Obi-Wan are sitting on the couch, eating their newly prepared fruit salad, talking and laughing as they do. The rain outside hasn't stopped. In fact, it seems like another storm is on its way. Padmé pays no attention to the weather outside, though. She's enjoying herself today, with Obi-Wan to spend time with. She likes listening to his voice, and there's something about his accent that she almost can't resist. _I wonder what kind of accent it is..._ She wonders what her voice sounds like to him.

"Let's play a game," Obi-Wan suggests.

"Sure!" Padmé agrees. "What game are you thinking of?" Obi-Wan starts stoking his beard again, and Padmé almost hopes he does another impression of Yoda.

"Well, I was thinking we could play a little game called 'I Have To Admit'." No Yoda imitation. _Damn._

"I don't think I've played that before."

"Well, it's simple. We each take turns saying 'I have to admit', and then telling something that you like about the other player. You can say basically anything you want." Padmé thinks about this for a moment, then agrees.

"You go first," Obi-Wan says. Padmé places a finger to her chin, thinking of something to say.

"Okay. I've got one. I have to admit: I like your accent." Obi-Wan grins.

"I'm flattered," he says. He looks up at Padmé's hair, which is tied up in a big bun on her head. "I have to admit: I like your hair."

"_I _have to admit: I kind of like your beard."

"I like your dress. I like all your dresses, actually." Padmé's heart begins to beat quickly. She's starting to like this game a little. She didn't know he liked so many different things about are a lot of things she likes about Obi-Wan, too. But what should she say next?

"I like how you make me smile."

"I like to _make_ you smile."

"Um, I like your personality. You're so kind, and you're _very_ smart." Obi-Wan reaches out and gently places his hand on Padmé's. Padmé looks down at his hand on top of hers, and smiles. Obi-Wan looks into her eyes.

"I like _you_." He moves closer to Padmé. Her heart flutters. Butterflies begin to flit and fly around inside her, and she starts to feel hot. She finds that they're starting to move closer and closer together, until their lips are almost touching.

"I like you, too," she whispers. Obi-Wan places his hand on the side of her face, and closes the space between their lips. Padmé can hardly believe this is happening. Just yesterday, Obi-Wan came over to get out of the rain, comforted her, fell asleep with her, then let her know how beautiful she is. Today, he helped her make a salad, and now, he's holding the sides of her face and kissing her lips as if she's the love of his life. _Maybe you are,_ she tells herself. She finally surrenders to Obi-Wan, and starts to kiss him back gently. Obi-Wan makes a quiet, yet satisfied moan. He starts to kiss her a little harder, and his hands move from the sides of her face to her arms. He rubs her arms up and down slowly, and then takes her bottom lip with his teeth, and nibbles it gently. Padmé responds with a nibble of Obi-Wan's lip in return. He places a hand on her head, and tangles his fingers into her curly, brown hair. His beard starts to tickle Padmé's face, and she giggles happily between kisses. His tongue tickles her lip, and she lets him explore the inside of her mouth. She opens her eyes to see that his are closed tightly, and then she knows that he's loving this. He moves his hand from her arm down to her ribs.

Eventually, they pull away. Obi-Wan's face is flushed, and his lips are red from kissing Padmé. He takes his hand out of her hair, and gives her one last kiss on her forehead. "I have to get going," he says quietly. He looks out the window quickly. "I have to go before I'm caught in a storm again."

"You can stay here again," Padmé offers. "You can stay until the storm is over. If there's going to be one." She glances out the window and realizes that there probably will be one coming up soon. Obi-Wan smiles, but shakes his head.

"I have to go back to Anakin. I told him I'd only be gone for a couple of hours." He stands up, adjusts his Jedi tunic, and heads for the door. He slips his boots on, then his cloak.

"Alright," Padmé says in a half whisper. "If you must." She comes over to Obi-Wan, and he gives her a warm kiss on her cheek.

"I'll see you later, my lady."


	4. Anakin Comes Over

Padmé rushes around her apartment, busy doing some last-minute tidying. Obi-Wan is coming over. Again. She's starting to enjoy his company more than she ever had before. Of course, it would be impossible _not_ to enjoy somebody like Obi-Wan Kenobi. They had talked to each other via comlink for hours last night, and it took another half-hour before either of them could disconnect. Padmé smiles. She likes him. She really does. But she knows that she shouldn't. A senator like her, and a Jedi like him? It couldn't work. It's unheard of. Over and over, she finds herself wondering why the Jedi have the rules that they do. They're encouraged to be compassionate, to protect others, but they aren't allowed to be in love? Prudes, she decided they were. _Well, maybe not Obi-Wan..._ She realizes that she's been standing at her table, idly scrubbing some invisible stain for quite a while. This week, it seems that whenever a single thought of Obi-Wan comes into her head, she enters some kind of dreamland, wondering what he's doing or if he's thinking about her, too. She sighs. She feels like a young handmaiden with a crush.

The stormy weather has finally gone away, after seven days of constant downpours. She looks at the clock on her wall. Obi-Wan should be here in a few minutes. He asked her earlier if he could bring someone along, and she told him that it would be a great idea. Really, though, she wishes that they could just have a romantic kind of supper, with just the two of them. Maybe they would kiss some more, like they had the last few times he's come over. Maybe, just maybe. But she realizes that if there's going to be another guest, then kissing is probably out of the question. Padmé is pretty sure she knows who is coming with, anyway. Anakin and Obi-Wan go almost everywhere together, except for her apartment, and she's certain that he's going to bring Anakin along. Great. It's not that she has a problem with Anakin. She likes him, but he makes her uncomfortable. Very uncomfortable. When she saw him for the first time since they were children, she had no idea what to say. He had changed so much. She said something about how he had grown, and he said the same thing to her. He realized how awkward that sounded, so he added "grown more beautiful", or something like that to make a smooth recovery. Padmé shakes her head. The boy is full of hormones.

A red Starfighter ship flies past her window, and her heart begins to beat quickly. Could that be them? The sound of her doorbell a few moments later tells her she was right. The door slides open, and Obi-Wan steps inside. Anakin is trailing behind him, fiddling with the thin braid that hangs over his shoulder. _Padawans have the silliest hair_, Padmé thinks, looking at the braid, and the random little tuft of hair tied into a short tail on the back of his head. She smiles happily at Obi-Wan and Anakin. Anakin looks into Padmé's eyes, a slow smile forming on his face. Padmé isn't sure if she wants to know what kind of thoughts are going through his head. He takes a step forward, but trips over his boot. Obi-Wan turns and looks at Anakin, and tries not to laugh. They both take their long boots off, and Padmé hangs up their cloaks.

"Hello, my lady," Obi-Wan says politely as she hangs up the cloaks. "And how are you this evening?"

"I'm fine, thank you!" Their eyes meet briefly. _Did he just wink at me?_ "And what about you two?"

"We're doing pretty well ourselves."

"Hello, Padmé." Anakin greets her with a sultry gaze.

"Hello, Anakin." Instinctively, she takes a step back. She glances at Obi-Wan, hoping he can sense her discomfort. "You look lovely today." She looks back at Anakin, and smiles politely.

"Thank you," she says. She makes another glance at Obi-Wan. He shoots a look at Anakin, and the younger man raises his eyebrows defensively. Padmé decides that she'd better change the subject. "I'm glad you guys could come over! Supper will be ready in a little bit, it's still cooking."

"Well, it smells delicious," Obi-Wan compliments. Anakin nods quickly.

Padmé is surprised that her meat-and-vegetables pie had turned out better than she thought it would. It seems that Anakin and Obi-Wan thought so, too. Their plates were cleaned up right away, and so were the seconds that Padmé dished for them. She finds it interesting how men can eat so much. She was full after one piece! She finishes the rest of her fruit juice, and refills Anakin and Obi-Wan's cups.

"This is so good!" Anakin remarks, the first thing said since they had all sat down to eat. He puts his fork down beside his empty plate, and takes a deep breath. "Well, I'm pretty full. You have a real talent for cooking, Padmé." Obi-Wan puts his fork down, too, and looks down at his newly cleaned plate.

"That was definitely the best meal I've had in quite a while!" He says. He and Anakin finish their juice, and Obi-Wan stands up with his plate. "I can wash these," he offers, holding up his plate and utensils. Padmé smiles, and opens her mouth to tell him not to.

"I can dry them," Anakin suggests, picking up his dishes, too.

"We insist," Obi-Wan says. "You've cooked an absolutely wonderful meal, so it's only fair that we wash the dishes."

"Well, if you want to, you can," Padmé replies. "But the washer is empty!" She points at the silver box mounted on the wall beside the sink. "I always just put my dishes in there!" Anakin's face turns a little red.

"Um, we'll load the washer, then!" he says, smiling awkwardly. Padmé starts to giggle. _Men,_ she muses to herself.

With the dishes loaded into the washer, and the table cleared, Padmé, Obi-Wan, and Anakin settle themselves in the livingroom. "Would you guys want to watch a holovid?" Padmé asks. Anakin and Obi-Wan look at each other, and shrug.

"Sure, that sounds fine," Anakin says. Padmé shows him her small collection of holovids.

"I'm sorry, I don't have very many," she says. "I just found these here when I moved in! I really don't know who they belonged to before." Anakin shuffles through them, and he picks a random one. He looks at the title. "Corellian Engineering Corporation Presents: The YT-1300," he reads. "A Possible New Way of Travelling." He looks at the back of the case. "It doesn't seem like this holovid's from very long ago. It looks like a documentary."

"Might as well watch it," Obi-Wan says. Anakin pops the small silver disc out of the case, and puts it into the holovid player. Padmé takes a look at the case. It has a drawing of a large, circular ship, with lights on the back and a strange looking cockpit that is sticking out the side. She's never seen anything like this before. It's a huge ship, much larger than hers. _Larger than anybody's_, she assumes. _It's kind of ugly._

The documentary is extremely boring. Before Padmé quit paying attention, a young Twi'ilek was talking about the Corellian Engineering Corporation, and their idea for a brand new ship. After a few boring interviews with a few of CEC's employees, they showed drawing after drawing of what the new ship was going to look like. The only interesting thing about the documentary was when the narrator stumbled over his words, and it sounded like he said a curse word. Padmé looks over at Obi-Wan, who is sitting beside her. His head is leaned against the back of the couch. He looks like he's watching a couple of insects flying around the ceiling. Anakin is asleep, his head laying against Padmé's arm. Padmé takes the remote for the holovid player, and turns it off. Obi-Wan looks down at her, and smiles.

"I can't believe how pointless that was," Padmé says with a yawn. She looks at Anakin, who seems to be sleeping peacefully, then back at Obi-Wan.

"Nothing like a documentary to put someone to sleep," he notes, noticing Anakin. He gives Padmé a little kiss on her forehead. She moves herself closer to him. He kisses her again.

"We shouldn't do this with Anakin here," she whispers.

"Don't worry about him," Obi-Wan assures her. "He sleeps like a rock. Believe me."

"Okay, but what if he wakes up?" Obi-Wan traces his finger along the braids tied into her hair.

"Then we'll just go somewhere else." He stands up, and holds out his hand. He lifts Padmé off the couch, and wraps his arms around her waist. He leans down and kisses her neck gently. A warm tingle runs down her body. She likes when he kisses her there. _Do it again!_ Obi-Wan gives another kiss, and then gently takes her skin between his teeth. Padmé begins to feel warm all over, and soon, a little place hidden beneath the skirts of her dress does, too. She couldn't be hot for him, could she? She looks into his eyes, and they are sparkling back at hers. She slowly presses her lips against his, and soon they are caught in the middle of a passionate kiss. His hands run up and down her back, and soon, she finds that they're on her rear. She slides her hands down, from his shoulder blades to his hips, and he sighs contentedly. He pulls her closer to him, until their chests are pressed tightly together. Padmé wonders for a moment if Obi-Wan's lightsaber is hooked onto his belt, and then her eyes widen when she realizes that that's not the case at all. _Did I really make him hard?_ He presses into her gently, very gently. _I did._ She takes in a deep breath, the feeling of him being held against her body new to her.

Anakin stirs, and Padmé and Obi-Wan pull apart quickly. Anakin lays himself down on the couch, and turns over. He's still sleeping. Obi-Wan takes Padmé's hand, and he takes a few steps away from the couch.

"My room?" She whispers. Obi-Wan grins.

"I would like that."

The door to Padmé's room slides shut, and they find themselves pressed against one another once more. Obi-Wan is still hard, too. Their tongues play back and fourth like the waves on Kamino, and without realizing what she's doing, Padmé runs her fingers lightly up and down the hard mound in the front of Obi-Wan's Jedi leggings. He takes a breath in, and staps back.

"I'm sorry," Padmé says quietly.

"No, don't be. Just took me by surprise." He gives Padmé another kiss on her neck. "I liked it." He reaches up from Padmé's waist, and puts a hand on her breast. "Do you like that?" he asks in a half whisper. Unable to say a word, Padmé nods slowly, and Obi-Wan reaches up with his other hand and unfastens the back of her dress. It falls to the ground slowly, landing on the floor with a _whoosh_. Goosebumps raise on Padmé's skin. She knows Obi-Wan thinks she's beautiful, but that was when she had clothes on. Now, she's standing before him in the dim light of her bedroom, in nothing but her little red, silk panties. She's exposed, and nobody before has ever seen her like this. She wonders what he thinks of her naked body. She watches as his eyes run down her body, from her eyes to her breasts, where they stay for a while. Then, they move from her breasts to her navel, from her navel to her hips, and from her hips to those silk panties. He starts to breathe deeply, and he bites his lip. He takes her by her hips, pulls her close to him, and takes her nipple into his mouth. She can feel them as they grow hard, and the warmth of his breath on her skin causes a shiver to run through her. She can feel herself starting to get wet. She's really hot for him now.

He runs his hands lightly down her stomach, and he lightly brushes his fingers around the bottom of her damp panties. He rubs for a few moments, then slips a couple fingers inside. Padmé moans quietly as Obi-Wan finds a sensitive spot. He pays special attention to it, rubbing slowly at first, and then faster. He looks into Padmé's eyes. She doesn't want him to stop.

"Obi-Wan? Padmé?" Anakin's voice from the livingroom startles them. Obi-Wan wipes his fingers on his leggings, and then gives Padmé one final kiss. He rushes out to the livingroom, and Padmé struggles to pull her dress up and fasten it in the back. She shakes her head. She knew she shouldn't have let Obi-Wan bring Anakin.


	5. Infatuation

"There are many feelings that a human may confuse for love." Padmé sits in her kitchen, listening to the holovid in the next room. It's another documentary in the collection of random holovids, but this one is not as boring as the one that she, Obi-Wan, and Anakin had watched the other day. In this documentary, which is meant specifically for service and protocol droids, a woman talks about the feelings and basic emotions of humans, and the differences between them. Padmé finds it rather interesting. Especially now that the topic has changed to matters of the heart.

"One feeling that I will explain is called 'infatuation'." Padmé smirks to herself. She already knows about this one. Boys have had crushes on her in the past, but she had never felt the same way for any of them. And then there's Anakin. He's so love-stricken that the thought causes Padmé to laugh, though something inside of her does find it very flattering. The narrator continues. "Infatuation is a feeling that is similar to love, but is very temporary compared to love itself. When a human is infatuated with another human, they may feel a strong emotional connection to that other human, but they will not truly love them. This is also known as a 'crush'." Padmé sighs. She feels like she has a bit of a crush herself, on Obi-Wan. Maybe it's something more. She doesn't honestly know. _Maybe this little lesson for droids can give me some sort of answer_, she tells herself.

"Here is an example," the narrator says. "If a female finds a male attractive, she may find herself thinking about him more often than usual. She may admit that she likes him, and the two might start some form of relationship. They may even have sexual feelings for one another." _Sounds like us._ "But are they really in love? Chances are, they are not." Padmé feels a weight inside her chest. That was definitely something she did not want to hear. _Oh, what does she know? She's probably never met somebody like Obi-Wan!_ "And that is because love takes time to develop. Most humans can not instantly go from having neutral feelings, or feelings of just friendship for somebody, to truly falling in _love_ with them. Often, when told that they are probably not truly in love, a human may be in denial or become defensive, but then they may eventually question their feelings theselves." Padmé wishes that she never put the holovid into the player in the first place, but a feeling inside her tells her to keep listening, that the narrator is right. She can't deny that she is infatuated with Obi-Wan, but that can't be all that she feels! Can it?

"Some humans feel that there is something missing in their lives. Perhaps these feelings are the result of the loss of a friend or family member. They may believe that love for and from another person can replace this." Padmé is starting to feel uncomfortable. She instantly thinks of Corde. Then, she thinks about the first time Obi-Wan came over. She knows that she feels better around him, like he can fill the gap in her heart that Corde left behind. She starts tuning out the narrator in the documentary and begins to contemplate her relationship with Obi-Wan. She did admit that she liked him, but she never told him that she _loved_ him. And he never said he loved her, either. She takes a deep breath, an overall sense of disappointment filling her chest. The holovid seems biased, she knows that. But she also knows that what the narrator is saying does apply to her.

_All it took was for Obi-Wan to flirt with me and tell me I'm beautiful... I think that's what got me. _

She realizes that she has a lot to think about.


	6. A Visit From His Master

The stars outside shine in through Obi-Wan's bedroom window. He looks up at them, and wonders just how many there are. When he was a little boy, he asked Qui-Gon Jinn, his master, how many stars there are. Qui-Gon simply said that there were too many to count, but it's okay that nobody knows. The stars remind him of tiny jewels, much like the ones Padmé wears with her elaborate Senate gowns. He rolls over and sighs happily. _Padmé. Beautiful, beautiful Padmé. _He wonders what she's doing right now. He guesses she's asleep, and he imagines sliding in between the sheets next to her, and nuzzling the warm skin of her neck with his nose, and then giving her a kiss. He'd wrap his arms around her from behind, and hold her close, gently pressing his chest against her back, holding her perfect firm breasts in his hands. He can almost feel her long hair tickling his face. He drifts off to sleep, and starts to dream about Padmé and her perfect, sensual figure.

Obi-Wan's eyes flutter open slowly when a pale blue light enters the room. He sits up. Qui-Gon's ghost sits at the foot of the bed, crossing his arms and frowning.

"Master?" Qui-Gon doesn't say anything at first. "What are you doing here?"

"I've come to give you a warning," Qui-Gon replies.

"Warning? What about?"

"Search your feelings. You know why I'm here." Obi-Wan thinks back to the past few days. In his thoughts, he sees Padmé's face. He can't help but smile a little bit.

"The young woman, Obi-Wan," Qui-Gon says. "You know you're defying the Jedi Order with her."

"Padmé?" Qui-Gon nods.

"Yes, Padmé. Why do you have this affair with her?"

"It's not an affair, Master. I- I love her." Qui-Gon snorts.

"Love her? And for how long have you_ loved_ Padmé? Before you started visiting her apartment, did you love her? Did you love her when you first met on Naboo ten years ago?"

"Master, when we first met, she was fourteen, and I was almost twenty. She was a child compared to me. Of course I didn't love her then." Qui-Gon shakes his head.

"You were a child then, too," he says. "And even now, it seems. You are almost thirty years old, Obi-Wan. You and Padmé are both adults. Also, you are a Jedi. You should know by now not to be attached to someone who doesn't truly share your feelings. It is foolish to say you are in love, when you're really not."

It takes a second for his master's words to sink in. "What are you talking about, Master Qui-Gon?"

"I'm going to show you." He puts out a hand, and closes his eyes. Obi-Wan closes his eyes, too. Inside his mind, he sees Padmé sitting in her kitchen, listening to a holovid meant for protocol droids. Then, he sees her face. She looks confused, and a little shocked. Then, he feels what she feels. Doubt. Disbelief. Denial. The scene changes to her bedroom. Padmé sits on her bed, with tears running down her face. Obi-Wan senses that she's trying to convince herself that she loves him. She is giving herself every possible reason to, but a feeling from deep within her keeps saying _no_. She is upset, and Obi-Wan can tell that she's fighting with her emotions. _A senator and a Jedi,_ he hears her say. _It's impossible._ She buries her face into her pillow, and sobs. The scene changes again. Padmé isn't crying anymore. She is thinking. It is late at night, and Obi-Wan realizes that this has taken place only moments before his master's arrival. He senses an empty sort of ache from within Padmé, and he starts her hear her thoughts. _Suppose Obi-Wan doesn't love me. Maybe we should stop seeing each other like this. Oh, but I don't want to hurt him!_

Obi-Wan opens his eyes. "Master Qui-Gon, what was that for?"

"Obi-Wan, what I was showing you is real. Padmé really did have those thoughts. And, what can you conclude from that?" Obi-Wan hangs his head. He looks back up at Qui-Gon.

"Padmé doesn't love me." He sighs. Inside, he already sort of knew this to be true. "It was silly. You cannot fall in love after a week." Qui-Gon nods.

"Padmé loves you, but only in the way that a friend loves another friend. There are no romantic attachments in her heart."

"But she wan't using me," Obi-Wan says.

"She wasn't using you. That is true. But she didn't know how she truly felt. She was infatuated, Obi-Wan, and I can sense that you are, too." He pauses. "Now, I'll give you a choice. You can either take my advice, and stop seeing Padmé, or you can continue your affair."

"What happens if we continue our affair?"

"I was just getting to that. If you and Padmé continue to have your sexual encounters, I'm afraid I am going to have to tell the rest of the council about your activities."

"What? You can't do that!" His master shrugs his shoulders.

"If a Jedi is not obeying the Code, it is the responsibility of another Jedi to help him from getting himself into further trouble. I must do it, if this keeps up. I don't want to, but I may have to. And if the council does know, you could lose your place among them." He starts to fade. "Padmé has already made her choice. It is time for you to make yours." He vanishes into the air. Obi-Wan lays back down, but he knows he won't be able to sleep. He knows already what he's going to have to choose. It's going to be a long night.


	7. Strong Feelings

Obi-Wan rubs his eyes slowly. This is the one thing he hates about sleepless nights. His eyes feel rough, as if all of the sand on Tatooine had been blown into them. He steps out of his bed, and makes his way into the bathroom.

He turns on the water, and cups his hands under the flow from the tap. He splashes it up into his face, and wipes it out of his eyes. He does it again, and then a third time. He turns off the tap, and buries his face into a small towel. He lifts his head to see Qui-Gon's face in his mirror. He backs up suddenly, throwing the towel across the room. Qui-Gon chuckles.

"You think that's funny, Master?" He asks, frowning. He's still upset about last night, and seeing his master first thing in the morning did nothing to help his mood.

"Obi-Wan," he replies. "Just settle. I've come to talk to you about Padmé."

"Again? I thought you already told me everything."

"I haven't. There is one final thing that you need to know. It might be your deciding factor in whether or not you should-"

"Oh, just say it."

"Alright. You're not going to like this. I looked deeply into the Force for advice to give to you, and I've learned something. The Force has already selected somebody for Padmé. Padmé is meant to be in love with the Chosen One."

"The Chosen One?" Obi-Wan can't believe it. "You mean Anakin?" Qui-Gon nods.

"Yes. Padmé is meant to bring two powerful allies to our galaxy. Their power is supposed to come from young Skywalker.

"Why him? I have the same powers!"

"I do not know, Obi-Wan. The Force works in ways that we do not always understand." At that, he disappears.

Padmé invited Obi-Wan to come over to see her about an hour ago. She stands at her huge living room window, waiting to see his ship fly by. She takes a deep breath, and wonders if he's going to show up at all. She walks over to her couch and sits down. She flicks a piece of lint off her pant leg, and smoothes a few wrinkles in her Alderaani silk shirt. She needs to talk to him. _How am I going to tell him I don't honestly love him?_ She sighs. She starts to feel sad all over again. Last night was one of her worst nights to date. First, the holovid for protocol droids caused her to question her feelings, and then she realized that she doesn't love him as much as she thought. Why does he have to be a Jedi? Why does _she_ have to be a senator? She should have just stepped down as Queen and lived a quiet life on Naboo, where she could be free to love him if she wanted to. It made things worse for her when a random ghost showed up in her bedroom and started talking to her. Well, at first he was random. Then she recognized him as Qui-Gon Jinn, Obi-Wan's master. He told her that he was about to speak with Obi-Wan, and then he offered her a choice. She could either stop seeing him and not deal with any further consequences, or keep on with the relationship and risk Obi-Wan possibly being rejected from the Jedi Council.

She didn't want to see him lose his place in the Council. She knows how important that is to him. If he were to be cast out, it would be all her fault, and she would never forgive herself. Even though she may not love him romantically, she does care about him. He's one of her best friends, and seeing him hurt is the last thing that she wants. With Qui-Gon Jinn sitting at her bedside, she told the ghost that she would rather be alone than see Obi-Wan be cast from the Council. Qui-Gon had told her that she made a wise choice, and that he was happy to know that she was coming to her senses again. But now she wonders what Obi-Wan decided.

She hears a knock at the door. It slides open, and a tired looking Obi-Wan meets Padmé in the living room. He sits down on the couch beside her, but does not put his arm around her like last time.

"You wanted to talk to me?" He asks.

"Yes." Padmé doesn't know where to begin. "Obi-Wan, a ghost started to talk to me last night. He was your master." Obi-Wan nods.

"I know, Padmé. He talked to me, too."

"I figured that. Um, anyway, he told me he knows what's going on between us, and he made me choose something-"

"Padmé, he told me the same things. He showed me a vision of you."

"A vision?"

"Yes. You were crying, and you realized that... you don't love me. And then Qui-Gon told me to choose between you and the Jedi."

"That's the choice he gave me."

"And?" Padmé takes a deep breath. She looks down at her pants, and a tear falls down from her eye. She looks back up at Obi-Wan.

"I chose the Council for you," she says. She stands up and walks into the bathroom for some tissues. She wipes the tears out of her face, and then wipes her nose. Obi-Wan follows behind her, and places a hand on his shoulder. "I don't want to see you be rejected by the Council," Padmé sobs. Obi-Wan emits a slow, drawn out sigh, and Padmé can see him in the mirror as he looks away from her. "I don't want to break your heart, Obi-Wan. I'm sorry! I'm so sorry."

"Padmé," Obi-Wan says quietly. "We're not meant for each other. The Force didn't choose me for you to fall in love with." Padmé wishes she never heard that. Not only did a ghost tell her she couldn't be in love with Obi-Wan, but now the whole Force thinks so! She turns her head, so he won't see her face. What had this whole time been about? All the visits from Obi-Wan? The kisses? The night Anakin came over, and she and Obi-Wan snuck into her room while the padawan was asleep- was it all for nothing? She desperately wants to ask him, but she is crying too hard to be able to speak. Finally, she manages.

"I hope you chose the Council, too."

"I did." Padmé can feel her heart breaking. Her chest aches worse than it ever had before.

"Obi-Wan? What do Jedi do with their... strong feelings?" Obi-Wan says nothing for a moment.

"Well, we keep them hidden away," he says. "We search our feelings, tell our masters, and fight the feelings off. Attachment leads to jealousy, my lady. Jealousy can lead to the Dark Side, and the Dark Side is what destroys us."

"I don't understand." She really does understand, but she wishes she didn't.

"In time, you will. Look, Padmé, I'm sorry that we can't do this any longer. You're always going to be my best friend." He gathers her into a hug. Padmé shivers. A hug from Obi-Wan doesn't feel the same as it used to. His arms feel colder, and not as inviting as they had only days before. He buries his face into her hair. "Always."


	8. The One

It's been eight hours. Padmé isn't sure if she can take it anymore. A violent contraction racks her body, and she lets out a scream. She knows that it's not supposed to be this bad. She had read books, lots of them. She had watched dozens of holovids. She even got Anakin to watch one with her. She had an uneventful pregnancy. She rarely felt sick, and she always made sure she ate healthy meals and even limited how much she travelled in space. And now she finds herself on a cold table in the care of a shiny medical droid, out of the company of another human. She looks up at the huge window near the ceiling. Obi-Wan stands on the other side of the glass, watching. She knows why he wanted to be her support. She lost her husband to the Dark Side of the Force. Anakin hatedher, and now she's been told that he's dead. He nearly killed her, and her unborn twins. Obi-Wan, though, didn't want her to go through this alone. Padmé starts to cry. She wonders if he knows something that she doesn't. She wonders if he thinks she's not going to make it.

"Obi-Wan!" She calls, hoping he can hear her. "Help me!" Obi-Wan says something back that she can't hear, and he buries his face in his hands. He tries to open a door that will lead him to the level of the room that she is at, but the door is locked. It was locked the last four times he tried to get to her. She doesn't understand how a medical droid can't see that humans need to be with other humans.

"You must calm down," the medical droid says in a soft voice. The droid is speaking Galactic Basic, but Padmé still understands her. "You mustn't yell, Padmé." Padmé tries to take a few deep breaths. She has another contraction, and another one after that. She tries to sit up. The droid reaches over and sets Padmé back down with her cold, padded arms. "You are losing blood, my dear. You cannot move too much. You will start pushing shortly."

Padmé is ready to give up. Losing Anakin after everything they went through together was the worst thing that has ever happened to her. He thought she betrayed him, and he choked her. _My children could have died because of him..._ She looks back up at Obi-Wan. He hasn't left from his place at the window at all. He's been standing there ever since he brought her here after she started going into labour on Mustafar. Maybe for him and the twins, she won't give up. She tries to keep her mind off all the pain she is in.

She closes her eyes, and remembers the time when Obi-Wan first came over to her apartment to get out of a storm. She had been crying when he came over, and he was there to comfort her. She remembers when he had taught her how to make a special kind of fruit salad, and she had tried throwing Hoth berries into his mouth. She thinks about the first time he had ever hugged her, and she still remembers every single word he said when they played his little game, "I Have to Admit". She wonders if he still remembers. Padmé is sure he still remembers the first time they kissed, and the evening that Anakin came over. She doesn't recall what they were watching, but it was so boring that Anakin had fallen asleep, so she and Obi-Wan escaped to her bedroom. That was the only time he had ever seen her naked. She wishes that she and Obi-Wan were meant to be together. They were best friends, and even though she did end up falling in love with Anakin, Obi-Wan always seemed to be there for her. She remembers hearing that the Force hadn't selected Obi-Wan for her. A pain snakes through her chest, and strikes her heart. Why did that have to be so? Why couldn't she have had the affair with Anakin, and realized that _Anakin_ wasn't the one for her?

The medical droid tells Padmé that she can start pushing. She tries once, but the pain is too much. She asks the droid for more medicine to kill her pain, but the droid says that Padmé has already been given too much. It feels as though she hasn't been given any at all. Obi-Wan is pressing his hands against the glass, and he looks like he is about to cry. Padmé's heart finally shatters. She can't do this. She loves Obi-Wan, and she loves her baby girl and her baby boy, but she feels too weak to continue. She knows she needs to finish her task. She wants to hold her two babies, but she has the feeling that she will never get the chance.

"You have lost a lot of blood, and you don't have much energy left," the medical droid says. "You need to push now." Padmé takes one final look at Obi-Wan. She's going to die. She knows it. He knows it, too. Oh, how she wishes that he could have been the one.


End file.
